Notes and Editorial Reviews

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

3 CDs + Book!

To coincide with the 500th anniversary of the birth of Saint Francis Borgia, Fourth Duke of Gandia, Jordi Savall and Alia Vox offer this visually lavish and artistically comprehensive multidisc set entitled Dinastia Borja (The Borgia Dynasty). It features a broad selection of music of the time, including works by composers such as Isaac, Dufay and Morales. For five centuries, scholars have studied and debated the role of the Borgias in Renaissance history. Although their name is synonymous with Papal corruption and they were undoubtedly malevolent and immoral, as patrons of the arts, the Borgias wereRead more also instrumental in the period’s explosive growth of culture. The fascinating story of their life and legacy (both good and evil) still has the power to inspire the imagination. With this dramatic historical and artistic backdrop, Savall and his fellow musicians draw listeners into the fascinating musical world of the time, shedding new light on this unique (and at times bloody) era in Western history.

The sixth annual Christmas present from Jordi Savall comes, like its predecessor (Fanfare 33:6), with three discs in a 244-page bound book, full of color, with notes and translations in four languages (Català/Valencià, Italian, Spanish, and English). While Savall has always been partial to his native language (the Valencia region uses a dialect of Catalan), the entire cover of the book uses only Catalan this time. The title, The Borgia Dynasty, celebrates the family from Valencia that is at the center, as the subtitle puts it, of “Church and power in the Renaissance.” The family descends remotely from an illegitimate son of an 11th-century king of Aragon who took his name from the town of Borja. The story told here begins with Alfonso de Borja (1378–1458), who became Pope Callistus III three years before his death. His nephew, Rodrigo de Borja (1431–1503), was an unworthy cardinal who sired four children before becoming Pope Alexander VI. His eldest son was given the title of Duke of Gandía and another was made Cardinal Archbishop of Valencia, the infamous Cesare Borgia; his daughter, the equally infamous Lucrezia Borgia, became Duchess of Ferrara. There were three more dukes of Gandía, the last renouncing his title to enter the newly formed Jesuit order; Francis Borgia became the third general of the order, died in 1572, and was canonized in 1671, a redeeming end to a sad saga. Significantly for the story, St. Francis Borgia has been credited with some activity as a composer, represented here by a Credo, sung with a rather intrusive instrumental accompaniment.

Savall collects a broad selection of musical works to mark these two centuries. There are more familiar composers represented here than in previous books of the series. Among pieces worth mentioning are Isaac’s Quis dabit capiti meo aquam, a first recording of Marbrianus Orto’s Salve regis Mater, and several Josquin motets. Most of the program was recorded a year ago, but Savall judiciously incorporated excerpts from several earlier issues. The notes acknowledge Isabel I Reina de Castilla (29:1) for the anonymous “Exultet caelum” and Cornago’s “Patres nostris”; Carlos V (24:4) for Morales’s “Jubilate Deo”; but do not acknowledge the slightly earlier Alfons V el Magnànim (25:2) for the anonymous “Correno multi cani” and some small excerpts or El Cant de Sibilla (23:1) for the Valencia version of that song, the longest of these reissued pieces. There are several tracks of narration divided among four speakers; some selections of sephardic, Moorish, and Turkish music; and a variety of performers alternating among vocal ensemble, instrumental ensemble, and solo (notably Andrew Lawrence-King’s harp).

The effect of almost a four-hour program of such variety depends on your willingness to immerse yourself in the book. It serves poorly as background listening, for any normal curiosity about the shifting contents is bound to be aroused if one is not following the guide. Since the book is printed in four languages, there are about 45 pages of text (with color pictures, a different selection in each part), including a detailed nine-page table of contents; this is in addition to the 50 pages of texts with four translations. History buffs will devour the detailed account of church and state politics in these two centuries. There are clarifications in these essays that I could not find in standard reference books. I found that the ribbon can be used to mark the beginning of the English section. The performances are uniformly excellent, as expected of these ensembles. It is worth emphasizing the beauty of this production, a solidly bound hardcover book that makes an impressive gift.